


On the Wings of Freedom

by ThatOneGayGuy



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Wings, First Mate Roman, Gen, Pirate captain Logan, Winged Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Winged Patton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:13:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneGayGuy/pseuds/ThatOneGayGuy
Summary: Logan is a pirate captain, and things are pretty normal for a pirate captain, untill a strange winged creature lands on deck. Now with a broken wing, they're stuck on board so Logan has no other choice than to take care of them.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 9
Kudos: 158
Collections: Sanders Sides Secret Santa 2019





	On the Wings of Freedom

"Captain. The crew has found something." Roman said as he pushed the door open. Logan looked up from the notes he was studying.  
"I picked my crew to be intelligent men, each capable of making decisions for themselves, what is it you need me for?"  
"This is something," Roman hesitated, "none could have prepared for."  
Logan sighed and took off his glasses, setting them down on the desk. Following Roman, he locked the captain's quarters behind him. "Really Roman, couldn't you have handled this as first mate? I gave you an extensive training on everything that you would encounter."  
"Not this, I doubt even you could have prepared for this."

When Logan saw what Roman meant, he couldn't believe his eyes. Before him sat a young, handsome man, with dark brown hair and eyes. He looked very lightweight, like he didn't eat much. Oh and he had large, white, feathered wings growing from his back.  
Logan stood there for a minute, watching the seemingly sleeping creature. Mentally calculating the possibility that something like this could happen, and everything else.  
"So, what should we do?" Roman asked. The whole crew had gathered on deck to witness the strange creature.  
"I'd bet it's worth a good amount of money." Someone said. Logan scanned the faces until he saw who said it, Declan. He was smart, but didn't have a moral compass quite like the others, always being more concerned with himself and his own betterment instead of whatever other people might need or want.  
"I won't sell them to anyone. I can't. We can't."  
"Logan, we're pirates," Declan responded.  
"I know we are, I know we plunder ships, I know we are outlaws. But I still cannot sell this creature."  
"Don't you have any common sense?" Declan raised his voice.  
"And do you not have an ounce of morality?" Logan practically shouted back, "I will not let any harm befall this creature, and that is final." Logan was staring Declan in the eyes, challenging him. Declan stared back, but eventually looked away while crossing his arms.  
"So, what should we do with it captain?" Roman asked.  
"We will simply allow them to rest and then we can let them go."

\----------

Roman was pacing across the deck, he was a little on edge ever since the winged creature crashed on the deck, and the crew certainly noticed.  
"Stop lounging around! Get back to work!" He snapped at a group of people standing by the main mast.  
"Aw come on brother, relax a little, we gotta have breaks. We've been working for hours now," Remus said, his characteristic grin on his face. Most people were out off by it but Roman, who had grown up with him, wasn't phased by it.  
"Don't you 'come on brother' me, you never know what might happen, we need to always be ready."  
The crew shared a few looks with each other before Remus shrugged. "We better listen, he isn't gonna calm down or back off." The other crew members groaned and spread across the deck to go back to their jobs.

Roman turned around from where the crew had gathered to see that the winged creature was moving about slightly in its sleep. Cautiously he walked closer, putting his hand on his sword just in case. Suddenly the creature jumped upright, startling Roman and making him take a step back. It looked around, panic clear to read on its face, before it started flapping its wings. Roman hadn't realized the sheer size of them until the creature had spread its wings fully. Even though it was flapping its wings like crazy, it wasn't taking off. Roman noticed the left wing bending weirdly and grabbed the closest crew member to him. "You, go get the captain. Tell him the creature woke up," he said before pushing them away in the direction of the captain's cabin.  
The creature seemed to be growing more and more desperate to escape from the ship, but it didn't seem to be able to. Logan arrived and stood next to Roman, looking at the creature.  
"Why won't it just fly away?" Roman asked.  
"They appears to be experiencing pain. My theory is they hurt their wing when they forcefully made contact with the deck," Logan said.  
"You can just say crash you know," Roman said as he rolled his eyes.  
"It would be beneficial if someone were to check up on their wing."  
"Alright, I'll have a look," Roman sighed and started getting closer to the creature. It started staring at Roman, eyes blown wide in fear and wings still desperately flapping.  
Someone dropped the coil of ropes they were working with, the creature jumped at the noise and started running away from Roman to the side of the ship. Not stopping with running, it jumped on the railing and leaped off of the ship, its wings spread wide. Everyone on deck held their breath as the creature seemed to glide for a moment, before it starting falling towards the water. In the last minute it wrapped its wings around it and dove into the water.  
"Let down a rowboat!" Roman ordered no one in particular before jumping off of the side and diving after the creature. The salt water stung his eyes, he quickly saw the lightly coloured creature against the darkness of the deep ocean. It was already quite a ways down and trying to flap its wings. Roman took strong strokes, still taking a bit to get to it, letting out little puffs of air as he went down.  
He grabbed the creature at its armpits, like he would with a human, and stopped fighting against the buoyancy, kicking his feet to go up even faster. Surfacing, he took a deep breath, taking a moment to float on the water. After a minute or so he began dragging the creature, which was now very exhausted from all the struggling and panicking it had done.  
Letting the crew take the creature from his arms he pulled himself up, flopping into the boat. Logan was waiting for them as the boat got pulled back up to the height of the deck.  
"Everyone please keep your distance from us, I need concentration and the creature does not need more stress stimuli," Logan said as he opened the medical examination kit.

Most ships did not have people trained in medical procedures on board. But then again, most ships didn't have Logan sanders for a captain. Logan himself was trained in first aid and general medical practices. He found it came in handy a lot of times, working on a ship came with its risks. Logan reached out and touched the creature's wing, making it flinch. Logan calmly reached out and touched its wing again. It tried to pull away again but it was weak, still being tired. Logan gently felt along the length of the wings, carefully looking at the creature. About midway down the left wing the creature flinched strongly. Logan examined the spot more closely and noticed how it was bent weirdly.  
"It seems my theory was correct. I don't imagine they'll be able to fly for a while," Logan muttered to himself.  
"Someone fetch me two small straight pieces of wood, I need to make a splint," Logan said loudly while not looking up. Hearing multiple people walk off he looked up and pointed at some random crewmen. "You and you, hold them down while I set the bone back." Two of the crew came forward and grabbed the creature by the shoulders, Logan mumbled a quick apology to the creature and snapped the wing back into place. The crew turned their faces away as screaming surrounded them.

\----------

Virgil looked up from where he laid on the floor to see someone standing over him who hadn't been standing there moments before. Joy filled his eyes as he recognized his mate. They grabbed his wrist gently and tugged him towards the edge of the ship but he resisted. Worry filled Patton's eyes, and they quietly made some noises.  
They both jumped as an angry scream was heard on the deck. The human with the red sash was charging at them while holding a flat metal thing. Virgil grabbed Patton's wrist and pulled him to the edge of the ship, pushing him off. They started flapping their wings and was flying in place a safe distance from the human structure. The humans all looking at them. They quickly flew up into the air to disappear behind a cloud.

\----------

Logan was standing on the quarterdeck, watching over the sea as Roman stood at the helm next to him. He looked up when someone in the crow's nest started shouting. They were wildly motioning towards port, their words muffled but their panic said a lot.  
"All hands on deck! Prepare the cannons! Prepare yourself for combat!" he shouted as he rushed onto the main deck. He was glad that the creature was sleeping in the hold, after a similar creature had landed on deck and tried to rescue the creature, Logan didn't want to run the risk of anyone else noticing them. He rushed downstairs and found the creature asleep in the back of the berth deck. Picking them up, he carried them into the sick bay, which was currently unused, and locked the door. He rushed back on deck to lead the crew in the coming attack.  
There was only one ship, but it was one of approximately the same size as his own. This would be a battle of skill and strategy more than anything.

The battle has come and gone by quickly. When Logan thought back on it he didn't remember much, he had been in many battles beforehand and they all seemed to go similarly. They'd start out with a chase on the water, each ship trying to stay out of the line of fire of the cannons the other ship has. Then the enemy would get closer and board their ship. A battle of swords would commence. Most ships had each man attack on his own, but Logan was smarter than that. He had drilled his crew to form ranks on the deck, making sure the attackers couldn't get past them. They would all stay in formation, taking down anyone who got too close. The enemy ship would get scared off quickly after that and they'd try to jump back on their own ship. The wounded often stayed behind. Outnumbered and left behind they didn't resist when Logan put them in the brig. Then the next time they visited a port they'd be released.

Logan had forgotten about the creature during the battle until he helped carry one of the few wounded crewmembers that there were. For a moment he had to think why the door to the sick bay was being pounded on when it was supposed to be empty. When he did remember he felt very embarrassed and quickly let the creature out. They rushed out past him and he wanted to go after them, but he had to tend to his men first.

After all the wounds had been tended, Logan went looking for the creature. He found them sitting at the bow, pressed into a corner and breathing heavily. Recognizing the universal state of panic he sat down a little ways from them and started tapping on the deck in a very steady rhythm. He started calmly speaking to the creature, unsure if they understood him but still trying.  
"I want you to focus on your breathing. Take slow deep breaths. Breathe in for four seconds; One, two, three, four. Hold your breath for seven seconds; One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Breathe out for eight seconds; One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." He slowly repeated the counting pattern, tapping along on the deck.

After a few minutes the creature was breathing calmly again. Even holding their breath for a while too. Logan turned to them curiously.  
"I have developed the theory that you can understand human speech, is that correct?" he said slowly.  
They scrunched up their forehead like they were thinking and stayed like that for a while. Logan revised what he said and tried to make it more simple.  
"I think you can understand what I'm saying. Is that right?"  
The creature again looked like it was thinking, but after a moment they turned to Logan and, seeming unsure, nodded.  
"Can you talk to me yourself?" he tried. Again they seemed unsure but they did open their mouth. Broken English came out and Logan had trouble interpreting it. After a minute he thought he had it figured out.  
"You are scared?" he asked, the creature nodded. They said something else.  
"You feel trapped?" Logan repeated, again they nodded.  
"Was it because of the small room you were in?" Logan asked them. They thought for a bit but nodded.  
"Oh no, I'm so sorry. We were being attacked and I had to make sure you weren't discovered. I locked you in there for safety reasons." They thought again, and turned to Logan with an angry face.  
They said one word and Logan didn't have trouble interpreting it. "Go."  
Logan bowed his head and left them alone.

\----------

Logan had decided, now that he knew the creature could talk, to spend time with him every day and help him develop his English. They sat next to each other on the stairs to the quarterdeck, watching the few fluffy clouds drift through the sky.  
"How is your wing doing? Does it hurt?" Logan asked.  
"It's okay." Virgil said. He had shared his name after a few days of talking, he was very hesitant but Logan had persisted and eventually he had given in.  
"It's been a few days, the bandages probably need to be changed," Logan said. Virgil didn't reply.  
"May I please see your wing?" Logan asked. Virgil hesitated and rubbed his arm a bit.  
Logan looked at him the way he was now, wearing an old pair of pants from one of the crew and with his hair tied back, and noticed how he looked almost human.  
Eventually he did extend his left wing as he turned away from Logan. Logan quickly unwrapped the bandage and lightly prodded the wound. Virgil winced slightly and his wing jerked up a little. Logan let go and after a few seconds Virgil lowered his wing again. Logan gently smelled the wound and pulled a disgusted face.  
"The wound is infected," Logan said.  
"Infected?" Virgil asked, his grasp of the English language was still lacking.  
"It's gone bad, or sick. It needs to be treated."  
"How do you do that?" He seemed nervous now.  
"With herbs, I'll check if we have any left," Logan said as he got up.

When he returned from the sick bay he stopped by the sailing master first.  
"Plot a course for the closest port, we need to stock up on medicinal supplies."  
The sailing master nodded and started looking through his maps and taking out measuring instruments. Logan left him to do his thing. Returning to virgil.  
"We, regrettably, do not have sufficient medicinal herbs left over," he began. He saw the worry in Virgil's eyes rise up so he quickly continued, "but we will be making a stop at a harbour soon to restock."  
"What about me?" he asked, wrapping his wings around himself.  
"You'll have to hide below deck. No one can see you," Logan said.  
Virgil pulled his legs to his chest. "I don't like that."  
"I know, I'm sorry. You won't be locked in the sick bay again. But you have to stay below deck."  
Virgil didn't say anything.

They arrived to the port within two days. Virgil, as they had discussed, stayed below deck. Docking went without problems, and a team of people went out to stock up on several supplies. Even though they still had stocks left of most things like food and water, they still got everything they might need because they couldn't always restock exactly when they needed it. Roman had picked the crew who would go off the ship himself, making sure none would mention anything about Virgil to other people.. Logan stayed behind on the ship to manage the other crew and keep Virgil company, making sure he didn't feel trapped.  
Roman came back with various medical supplies halfway through the afternoon, finding Logan reading to Virgil.  
He watched as Logan put down the book, he watched as Virgil let Logan touch his wing, and we watched as Logan ground the herbs with some water into a paste and put it on the wound. He fell in step besides Logan as he put the medicinal supplies back in the sick bay.  
"Why do you spend so much time with that creature?" he asked, his voice betraying how he felt about him.  
"Virgil is hurt and needs to recover properly, I'm making sure he does," Logan replied, his voice showing no emotion. A voice in the back of Roman's head told him to let it go but he kept asking.  
"What's so special about it anyways? Isn't your crew more important than some strange freak of nature?"  
Logan stopped and turned on his heels to Roman.  
"Don't you dare insinuate that Virgil is lesser than any one of us. He is his own person too, he is just as intelligent or capable as any member of this crew."  
"If that thing is the same, why give it so much more special attention? You don't care about it, you just want to study it."  
Logan faltered at that accusation. He initially was interested as a man of science, but now it's become much more than that. He considered Virgil a friend.

\----------

The crew had been sailing around for a long time with no real direction to go on. They were getting restless, and Logan knew this. They were close to a busy trading route, connecting some of the larger ports in the seas, meaning they were likely to come across a ship they could attack.  
Logan met up with Virgil, like every day, on the main deck.  
Virgil looked up when he heard Logan come closer, but tilted his head to the side when he saw Logan hadn't brought a book.  
"Why don't you have a book?" he asked.  
"I need to talk about something with you," Logan said. Virgil tilted his head in the other direction this time.  
"We are running out of money, we need to get more soon." Logan took a few breaths. "Unfortunately, we are pirates."  
Virgil looked at Logan with curiosity, though he also picked up on Logan's uneasiness. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know what a pirate is?" Logan asked, Virgil shook his head.  
"A pirate is someone who attacks other ships and steals from them."  
"Why would you do that?"  
Logan sighed. "I didn't have any choice."  
Logan looked into the distance, old pains aching in his heart again.  
"Why?" Virgil asked, snapping Logan out of his thoughts.  
"I was in love, and everyone hated that. They had come for me and my partner. We ran through the entire town, eventually making it to the harbor. We saw a ship that was about to leave, I ran aboard but my partner, he tripped. They caught up to him but they couldn't get to me because the ship was already leaving."  
Virgil had a sad look in his eyes to match the one Logan had.  
"What happened to him?"  
"I… I'm sorry, I can't tell you that," Logan said, his heart hurting with old losses.

The crewmembers in the crows best yelled down. "Captain, we've found a ship. North north east!"  
Logan turned back to Virgil, getting caught up in the memory.  
"Right, Virgil, we're gonna get close to another ship, you'll have to hide below deck again."  
"Oh okay."

\----------

Virgil was lounging on the deck, watching the sun set and the stars starting to appear. He sat up as some stars went out, all in a line. Realizing something was flying across them he smiled, making his was to the railing, and waited.  
A blur went by and then there was a splash in the water. And then they were there, his mate Patton was flying a little ways from the boat, and low to stay out of view from the crew.  
They motioned to him to come to them, but Virgil shook his head and spread his left wing, the wrappings clearly visible.  
Patton came closer, shocked and worried at seeing the wrappings. Reaching out to pull them off.  
Virgil pulled his wing back against his body. Patton looked more worried. Virgil pulled a pained face and mentioned towards his wing, then he made a wrapping motion with his hands and made a relieved face.  
Patton nodded, but concern still on his face.

Both of them startled as the crew with the red sash was running and yelling again. Patton dropped and glided over the water surface for a while before soaring back up into the sky, disappearing into the dark night sky.  
Virgil turned back to the human, and saw that he was angry.

Roman slammed open the door to the captains quarters and dragged Virgil in by his arm. Logan was startled from where he sat and looked at his first mate with tired eyes.  
"What is it Roman?"  
"This little thing here keeps calling his little friends to our ship, it's gonna cause trouble."  
Logan sat up more, looking at Virgil curiously. "Is this true Virgil?"  
"Patton is my mate, they came looking for me."  
"Will they come back?" Logan asked.  
"It better doesn't, otherwise it'll have to deal with me," Roman said and our his hand on his sable handle. Virgil wrapped his wings around his awkwardly.  
"Calm down Roman, I wasn't asking you," Logan said and turned back to Virgil.  
"They are worried about me, they will come back, they will keep trying until I'm back at the nest."

"Where is your nest?" Logan asked, resting his head on his hand. Virgil looked away from the two humans.  
"I can't say, it's a secret."  
"What if Roman left? You'd be telling it to just me," Logan suggested.  
Virgil looked to the side, but then nodded. Logan looked Roman in the eyes. "Ugh, fine!" He said before letting go of Virgil's arm and leaving the captain's quarters. Virgil looked as he left, after a moment he started talking.  
"It's a cliff over the ocean, lots of caves in there."  
"Ah, I think I know where you mean. We'll bring you back to your mate."

\----------

Logan stood on the deck, watching the horizon.  
He had manned the wheel himself while they sailed towards the bee's cliffs. A large cliff named after the fact that the many caves make it look like a beehive. With the description Virgil gave, that seemed like the most likely place for his nest, taking the location where they found him and the times his mate came to visit into account as well.  
Logan gave a little smile when he heard "Land ho!" coming from the crows nest, they were close. Virgil, who was laying next to him, looked up and started looking at the horizon as well. His wings flapping excitedly as he recognized the area. Rushing to the bow of the ship he started jumping up and down where he stood. Logan couldn't help but smile a little.  
He called for the sails to be let down as he felt the winds change, letting the ship glide the final part of the journey on the speed they already had.

As they got close to the caves, they seemed totally empty, not even a single seabird was to be seen. Logan thought he had made a mistake until Virgil started making some loud call. It started off a low note but got higher and then wavered a little around the higher notes. He repeated the call a few times, and as Logan looked up he saw some movements in the caves.  
Suddenly a figure was falling down the cliffside, but then they spread their wings and slowed their decent, circling the ship. They landed on the deck with a thud and ran towards Virgil, who was running towards them too. The whole crew had gathered on deck now to watch the two. Logan joined them and walked slowly closer.

When the second creature saw Logan they spread their wings and pushed Virgil behind them, but Virgil pushed the wings away and smiled at Logan. He tried to go towards Logan but the other pulled him back and wrapped their wings around him.  
Virgil looked them in the eye and pulled some faces. The other looked at Logan, looked back at Virgil, and then let him go. Virgil happily hopped over to Logan.  
"Thank you," he said simply.  
"Is this your mate?"  
"Yes, this is Patton."  
Patton frowned at hearing their own name.  
"Hello Patton, I'm Logan. I've been taking care of Virgil.  
Virgil turned back to Patton and sat down in their lap.

"Virgil, how is your wing doing? Does it feel okay?" Logan asked, Virgil nodded.  
"Would you mind if I take a look at the bandage?"  
Virgil didn't say anything but still extended his left wing for Logan. As Logan got closer Patton made a low growling noise, but Virgil pressed his forehead against theirs, making them calm down.  
Logan unwrapped the bandages and looked at the wing. There was no sign left of the wound. Logan gave it a few pokes anyways to see if it still hurt, but Virgil didn't flinch at all.  
"I think you're fully healed, can you try to fly a little?"  
Virgil stared at Logan like he almost didn't believe it. He worked his way out of Patton's hold and flapped his left wing a few times. He started flapping both of his wings and jumping a little, staying in the air longer than you could get by just jumping. He started laughing loudly as he jumped high and took off. Flying circles around the ship. Patton and the other creatures in the caves came and joined him in an amazing display of flapping feathers.

He landed again, right in front of Logan, a wide smile on his face and gratitude in his eyes. He felt through his wings and pulled out a loose feather, giving it to Logan. Patton landed next to him and did the same, giving Logan a loose feather.  
"This is a great honor, it's a sign of thanks, the highest sign."  
"I will treasure it forever."  
Virgil wrapped a wing around Logan, and Logan out an arm around Virgil in return. Eventually they separated and Virgil flew into the air, Patton following close behind. They disappeared into one of the highest caves, and slowly all the other creatures also hid again, until all that was left was the pirate ship, its crew, and the memories of what had happened.


End file.
